Calgarians urged to clear sidewalks this winter

With temperatures expected to plummet in Calgary over the coming days, some citizens are concerned about slick sidewalks — and whether neighbours will shovel their walkways. 

Peter Quaiattini, who's lived in Calgary for 25 years, has been navigating ice-covered sidewalks in the Mount Royal and Beltline areas for weeks now.

Quaiattini has no functional vision and uses a white cane for mobility. He said it's usually easy to feel the difference between concrete sidewalks and snowbanks, but it's much more difficult when people don't shovel the sidewalks in front of their properties. 

Quaiattini said he has slipped on ice and even wandered onto the road because of the difficulty of navigating uncleared sidewalks.

"This morning … I almost took a header just a block away from my house," he said.

Quaiattini urges Calgarians to clear their walks while ice is melting to prevent their fellow citizens with disabilities or mobility issues from getting hurt.

"What Calgarian has not slipped on icy sidewalks because someone has not done their civic duty and kept their walk clear?" he said.

Hundreds of warnings issued by city in November

Quaiattini wants the city to take more action when it comes to enforcing its snow and ice-clearing bylaws.

"We proactively enforce parking bylaws. We proactively enforce speeding laws. Why can we not proactively enforce clear path of travel bylaws?" he said.

According to the city's bylaws, property owners have 24 hours to clear their adjacent sidewalks after a snowfall. 

Brad Johnson, an inspector with Calgary Community Standards, said if residents don't clear the snow and ice off sidewalks by their properties, a warning is issued. 

If a sidewalk is still not cleared 24 hours after a warning is issued, Johnson said the city often then sends in a contractor to clear the area. And the property owner receives the bill. 

Although the minimum cost for that kind of bill is usually around $200, Johnson said that number could be much higher depending on the snow and ice conditions.

"Where it's solid packed snow and ice, it's not easy to get out. So, when a contractor goes out to clear that, that bill literally can range [from] $500 to $1,000," Johnson said.

Johnson said contractors have been sent out 245 times since Nov. 1 of this year.

A $250 fine can also be issued if a property owner's walk is consistently ignored, according to Johnson. He said only two of those fines have been handed out this month.

Neighbours helping neighbours

Bojan Tosic, program planning and implementation steward with the City of Calgary, works with the municipal Snow Angels program, which encourages Calgarians to shovel the sidewalks of neighbours in need of support. 

"We all know … seniors or people who are sick or new parents, people with disabilities, they can use help with snow clearing," Tosic said. 

The Snow Angels program began in 2004, according to the city's website, and recognizes Calgarians who help their neighbours with snow shoveling. About 8,500 Calgarians have been recognized so far through the program.

Tosic said throughout the pandemic, he has seen a great deal of compassion and community building with neighbours helping each other with shovelling through the winter months.

"That is one of those things [that's] amazing to me," he said. "I like living in Calgary because of that, because of that really, really strong community bond."

According to Tosic, Calgarians can have their neighbours officially recognized as Snow Angels with a certificate signed by Mayor Jyoti Gondek by visiting calgary.ca/SnowAngels or by calling 311.